Wendy Perron, author of Through the Eyes of a Dancer, had a 30-year career as a dancer/choreographer. She danced with the Trisha Brown Company in the 1970s and choreographed more than 40 works for her own group until 2000. The former editor in chief of Dance Magazine, Wendy has also written for The New York Times, The Village Voice, Contact Quarterly, and publications in Europe and China. She has taught at Bennington, Princeton, and Jacob’s Pillow and lectured internationally. Now an adjunct professor at The Juilliard School and NYU, she has written a book on Grand Union that will be out this fall.
Twitter @wperrondancemag
Appendix B: PARTIAL PLAYLIST
This list is only possible with the miracle of Shazam. Before a friend down- loaded the Shazam app for me, I was searching for song titles via the lyrics that I managed to decipher from the videos. Only a fraction of GU’s performances are covered because there are so few archival videos. Also, I learned that Shazam can’t do its job when sounds like talking or laughing muddy the tunes, which was often the case. Sometimes I had no more information than the sounds I could hear myself from the video; for instance, that it was harpsichord music. Also missing are all the times the dancers launched into songs they knew or made up on the spot. The list is basically in chronological sequence, except that I’ve added an “Other” category for songs that were mentioned in interviews or reviews but couldn’t be verified.
Oberlin, January 1972
“No Expectations,” Rolling Stones
“Let the Good Times Roll,” Harry Nilsson
“All I Ever Wanted,” New Riders of the Purple Sage “Without You,” Harry Nilsson
“Coconut,” Harry Nilsson
LoGiudice Series, May 28–31, 1972
“Coconut,” Harry Nilsson
“Let the Good Times Roll,” Harry Nilsson
“Jump into the Fire,” Harry Nilsson
“Sonny’s Jump,” Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee “Stray Cat Blues,” The Rolling Stones
“Salt of the Earth,” The Rolling Stones
“Fig Leaf Rag,” Scott Joplin
“Magnetic Rag,” Scott Joplin
“Gimme Shelter,” The Rolling Stones
“Country Honk,” The Rolling Stones
“Let It Bleed,” The Rolling Stones
“Live with Me,” The Rolling Stones
“Göttingen,” Barbara (Monique Andrée Serf ) “Sympathy for the Devil,” The Rolling Stones
“No Expectations,” The Rolling Stones
“Parachute Woman,” The Rolling Stones
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Tseng Proof • 2020.03.02 09:39 1564 Perron • The Grand Union • Sheet 325 of 374
Tseng Proof • 2020.03.02 09:39 1564 Perron • The Grand Union • Sheet 326 of 374
“Jigsaw Puzzle,” The Rolling Stones
“Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” The Rolling Stones
“You Can’t Catch Me,” The Rolling Stones
“Heart of Stone,” The Rolling Stones
“What a Shame,” The Rolling Stones
“I Need You Baby (Mona),” The Rolling Stones
“Round & Round (It Won’t Be Long),” Neil Young & Crazy Horse “Down by the River,” Neil Young
Unidentified harpsichord music
“In C,” Terry Riley
“Where Do the Children Play,” Cat Stevens
“Hard Headed Woman,” Cat Stevens
“Wild World,” Cat Stevens
“Sad Lisa,” Cat Stevens
“Gotta Get Up,” Harry Nilsson
“Driving Along,” Harry Nilsson
“Early in the Morning,” Harry Nilsson
University of Iowa, March 1974
“Kecak: The Ramayana Monkey Chants,” Indonesian music from the Nonesuch Explorer Series
“Cross Road Blues,” Robert Johnson “Terraplane Blues,” Robert Johnson
“Surfin’ USA,” Beach Boys
“Something There Is About You,” Bob Dylan “He’s Misstra Know-It-All,” Stevie Wonder “Love’s Theme,” The Love Unlimited Orchestra
La MaMa, March 1975
From the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid: “Main Title Theme (Billy),” Bob Dylan “Billy 1,” Bob Dylan
“Bunkhouse Theme,” Bob Dylan
“River Theme,” Bob Dylan
“La Passerella Di Otto E Mezzo,” Nino Rota
Concerto Pour Flute in C Minor, Rv 441, Vivaldi, NY Philharmonic and
Leonard Bernstein
Concerto Pour Piccolo in C Major, Rv 443, Vivaldi, NY Philharmonic and
Leonard Bernstein
“Lukembi-Mbuti,” Mbuti Pygmy Playing Lukenbi, Pygmies of the Ituri
Rainforest
A waltz with bird whistles
“Turkey Chase,” Bob Dylan
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” Bob Dylan
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appendix b
African kalimba music
Medley of songs including “Go Down, Moses,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,”
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” and “Look Away, Dixie Land,” in unknown instrumental versions
Walker Art Center, October 1975, Guthrie Theater
“It’s Gonna Rain,” Steve Reich (1965)
Walker Art Center, October 1975, Lobby
“Hang Up Your Hang Ups,” Herbie Hancock
“Sun Touch,” Herbie Hancock
“The Traitor,” Herbie Hancock
Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 1 in D Major, Edward Elgar
La MaMa, April 1976
“Heaven,” Tommy Tietjen
“Long Black Veil,” The Band
“We Can Talk,” The Band
“On a Night Like This,” Bob Dylan “Brown Sugar,” The Rolling Stones
“Little Boy Blue,” Rufus Feat, Chaka Khan
Missoula, May 1976
“125th Street Congress,” Weather Report
“Put It Where You Want It,” Average White Band
Other
“Gymnopédies,” Satie, orchestrated by Debussy, Boston Philharmonic “You’ve Got a Friend,” Carole King
“Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” Tiny Tim
“My Sweet Lord,” George Harrison
“Lola,” The Kinks
“You Angel You,” Bob Dylan
